Writing instrument



I Feb. 24, 1970 F. KONIG WRITING'INSTRUMENT Filed Sept. 12, 1967 Inventor.- 7-7-77; $6

United States Patent 3,497,305 WRITING INSTRUMENT Fritz Ktiuig, QuickbOrmGermany, assignor to Montblanc- Simplo GmbH, Hamburg, Germany Filed Sept. 12, 1967, Ser. No. 667,194 Claims priority, application Germany, Sept. 12, 1966, M 70,893 Int. Cl. B43k 7/12 US. Cl. 401-105 1 Claim ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A writing instrument with a writing element carrier reciprocable in a barrel and movable by means of a lever from a retracted position into an advanced position against the thrust of a spring, and vice versa. The invention is characterized primarily by a lever extending through a slot in the rear portion of the barrel into said rear portion of the barrel for engagement with the writing element carrier, said lever having an actuating portion with a first and a second surface arranged at an angle with regard to each other for respectively and selectively acting upon the advanced end of said writing element carrier, while said actuating portion is provided with bearing eye means pivotally receiving and engaging pivot pin means extending transversely of said rear portion of the barrel for pivotally journaling said level, said actuating means additionally being provided with a slot slightly narrower than the diameter of said pivot pin means and extending from said bearing eye means to a peripheral surface of said actuating portion other than said first and second surfaces while the edges of said slot in said actuating means are elastically yielda-ble to permit a forceful insertion and journalling of said lever on said pivot pin means, said lever including a control arm connected to said actuating portion and extending through and protruding from said slot in said rear section.

This invention relates to writing instruments. Writing instruments are known in which there is provided a writing element carrier which is longitudinally displaceable inside a barrel against the restoring thrust of a spring disposed in the forward part of the barrel, displacement being effected by a tumbler lever having a control arm projecting from a rear part of the barrel to the outside and a working arm inside the barrel co-operating with the writing element carrier in such a way that deflection of the control arm towards the forward end of the writing instrument about a pivot inside the barrel causes the work ing arm to displace the writing element carrier in the forward direction, the free end of said control arm of the tumbler lever working in a longitudinal slot, from which it projects, in a clip attached in conventional manner to the rear end of the barrel.

In this writing instrument the tumbler lever is permanently mounted on a'pivot pin contained in a bearing member inside the barrel. For assembling the writing instrument, this bearing member and the tumbler lever must therefore be inserted into the barrel and a slot in the bearing element brought into register with a slot in the barrel to permit the tumbler lever to be swung out of the bearing member. This method of assembly is extremely time-consuming and troublesome.

It is, therefore, an object of this invention to provide a writing instrument of the above mentioned general type, which will overcome the above outlined drawbacks.

It is another object of this invention to provide an improved writing instrument of the above mentioned type so that the tumbler lever can be mounted in position 3,497,305 Patented Feb. 24, 1970 "ice during assembly in a far simpler way than heretofore possible.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will appear more clearly from the following specification in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIGURE 1 is an axial section of a writing instrument according to the present invention.

FIGURE 2 is a separate side view of the bearing member employed in the writing instrument of FIG. 1 and containing the pivot pin for the tumbler lever.

FIGURE 3 is a view of the underside of the bearing member of FIG. 2.

FIGURE 4 is another side view of the bearing member of FIG. 2, seen at right angles to FIG. 2.

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged view of the tumbler lever.

The above outlined objects have been realized according to the present invention by providing the tumbler lever with a slot extending from its bearing eye to the edge of the lever, said slot being slightly narrower than the diameter of the eye to permit the tumbler to be pushed through a slot in the barrel and mounted on the pivot pin by virtue of the edges of the slot in the lever elastically yielding to the passage of the pivot pin through the slot into the eye. After having thus been clipped onto the pivot pin the tumbler lever cannot then in ractice he accidentally detached. The proposed arrangement, therefore, permits first the bearing member to be introduced into the barrel and thereafter the tumbler lever to be mounted therein from the outside. This considerably facilitates assembly with a consequent substantial reduction in assembly time.

The bearing member containing the pivot pin is preferably located inside the barrel so that it cannot rotate. Conveniently the bearing member may be of integral construction with the plug for closing the end of the barrel, the bearing member being provided with longitudinal slots and the barrel and clip with projections for engaging said slots, the bearing member and plug being secured in the barrel by means of a threaded sleeve inserted into the barrel. In this arrangement it is unnecessary to bring the slot in the bearing member into register with the slot in the barrel, since this is automatically accomplished. This feature further reduces the time spent on assembly.

Referring now to the drawing in detail: The writing instrument shown therein comprises a forward barrel part 11 and a rear barrel part 9, In conventional manner these two parts 11 and 9 are connected to each other, e.g. by a thread connection, and axially movably contain a tube 12 for holding a charge of the writing medium, said tube 12 being adapted to carry the writing point. The for- Ward end 12a of said tube 12 is embraced by a coil spring 14 which urges the tube rearwards, and which at its forward end is tightly held in the conically converging internal bore 11a of the barrel. The rear end 1411 of this restoring or return spring 14 conically widens to a larger diameter so that the outer periphery of this rear part 14a of the spring is guided in the internal bore of the barrel. 13 is the terminal fitting which guides the writing point.

The rear end of the refill tube 12 is provided with a cap 12b which preferably consists of an abrasion-resistant material. This cap 121) may for instance consist of any suitable plastic material.

Inserted into the rear part 9 of the barrel is a screw plug 1 held in the part 9 of the barrel by a threaded sleeve 2. The projecting shoulder 1b of the screw plug 1 also serves for securing the clip 8. The screw plug 1 is provided with a bearing member 16 which on opposite sides of its wall has shallow slots 3 which in the lower part of the support member 16 form a dividing slot 311 through the bearing member. The end of the bearing member 16 facing the tube 12 contains a pivot pin 10 upon which a tumbler lever provided with a co-operating eye 6 is mounted, The eye 6 is extended by a slot 7 to the edge of the lever. The slot is slightly narrower than the diameter of the eye and thus permits the tumbler lever to be forced onto the pivot pin because the edge of the slot can elastically yield to the passage of the pin.

The part 9 of the barrel has a slot at 9a. The clip 8 is likewise formed with a slot 8a. The control arm 50 of the tumbler lever 5 projects through both slots 9a and 8a and is thus adapted to be operated from the outside.

The tumbler lever 5 is formed with abutment edges 5a and 5b which cooperate with the cap 12b on the end of the tube 12. In the position of the tumbler lever 5 illustrated in FIG. 1 the cap 12b of the tube 12 bears against the abutment edge 5b and is in its fully retracted position. If the tumbler lever 5 is deflected from its position in FIG. 1 by the control arm 50 being pulled down, the tube 12 will be thrust forward until the cap 12b comes to rest against the abutment edge 5a of the tumbler lever. The tube is then in its forward position for writing.

For purposes of assembly, the plug 1 with the bearing member 16, which is an integral part of the plug, is first inserted into the rear end of part 9 of the barrel. This part 9 of the barrel contains projections 9b which engage the slots 3 in the sides of the plug 1 and thereby align the slots 3 with the slot 9a in part 9 of the barrel. The plug 1 is then secured in the rear part 9 of the barrel by means of the threaded sleeve 2 which is screwed onto the threads 1a by means of a suitable tool inserted rearwardly into the rear barrel part 9. The portion of the tumbler lever 5 containing the eye 6 and the slot 7 is then inserted through the two slots 8a and 9a, preferably with the help of a suitable tool, and forced onto the pivot pin 10, the edges of the slot 7 in the tumbler lever 5 yielding sufficiently to permit the pivot pin 10 to enter the eye 6. The tumbler lever 5 is then sufficiently reliably held on the pivot pin 10 to prevent it in practice from being accidently detached. However, with the aid of a tool the tumbler lever 5 could be pulled off the pivot pin 10 whenever desired for the purpose of dismantling the writing instrument.

It is, of course, to be understood that the present invention is, by no means, limited to the particular construction shown in the drawing, but also comprises any modifications within the scope of the appended claim.

What I claim is:

1. A writing instrument which comprises: a barrel having a front section and a rear section, a writing element, a carrier carrying said writing element and movable in said barrel from a retracted position in which said writing element is Within said barrel to an advanced position in which said writting element protrudes from the front section of said barrel, and vice versa, spring means arranged in said front section and continuously urging said Writing element carrier into said retracted position, a plug slidable into and closing the rear end of the barrel and having a support member integral with its inner end, said support and barrel having non-rotative engagement, means within said barrel fixingsaid plug against outward movement, pivot pin means fixed on said support member and extending in a direction transverse to the longitudinal direction of said barrel, said rear section being provided with a slot extending in a direction substantally perpendicular to the longitudinal extension of said pivot pin means, and a tumbler lever comprising an actuating portion arranged within said rear section and provided with a first surface and a second surface arranged adjacent and at an angle to each other for respectively and selectively acting only upon the adjacent end of said writing'elernent carrier to hold the latter in said retracted and advanced position respectively, said actuating portion being provided with bearing eye means pivotally receiving and engaging said pivot pin means for pivotally journalling said lever on said pivot pin means, said actuating means additionally being provided with a slot slightly narrower than the diameter of said pivot pin means and extending from said bearing eye means away from said carrier and said adjacent first and second surfaces to a peripheral surface of said actuating portion opposite said bearing eye means from said first and second surfaces While the edges of said slot in said actuating means are elastically yieldable to permit a forceful insertion exclusively from the outside and journalling of said lever on said pivot pin means, said lever including a control arm portion connected to said actuating portion and extending through and protruding from said slot in said rear section.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,986,119 5/1961 Roesler et al. 401-405 LAWRENCE CHARLES, Primary Examiner 

